Category: subassembly

• Cessna Crane – Part Two – It’s Not A Trainer

  

  At least, I don’t think it is. I think it’s a small transport aircraft that can be disguised as a trainer. The Cessna Crane that I speculated about in the first post appears in bright yellow RCAF trainer livery in every historic shot I can find of it. Nowhere so far does it appear in…

  Dick Stein

  February 20, 2021

  1:72 scale, airliner, Canadian aircraft, Civil aircraft, Czech models, Model Airplane, Scale Models, subassembly

  Cessna, trainer, transport

• Douglas DC-3 – Part Three – The Airfix Channel

  

  Well, I’d watch it if they started broadcasting, and so would you. But this is not about the television – it’s about the Airfix channel that they put between the fuslage and inner wing panel of the DC3. It is so far the widest gap this side of Darien. Not on both sides of the…

  Dick Stein

  February 15, 2021

  1:72 scale, airliner, American aircraft, French aircraft, Model Airplane, Scale Models, subassembly, Uncategorized, Workshop

  Airfix, Douglas C-47, filler

• Douglas DC-3 – Part Two – It Fits Where it Touches

  

  I am trying not to be discouraged by the Airfix DC3/C47 kit. I have chosen wisely to make it into a closed kit – the door fitting on the port side is truly appalling. Or perhaps I am looking at it from the wrong perspective – in the original form it has three mini-guns and…

  Dick Stein

  February 15, 2021

  1:72 scale, airliner, American aircraft, design, French aircraft, Model Airplane, Scale Models, subassembly

  Airfix, Douglas C-47, moulding

• Potez 540 – Part Four – IKEA Day

  

  The day I assemble the fuselage from the flat pack with a little hex wrench. I almost seemed like that was going to be the case when I first saw the way the aircraft had been sectioned. But Heller was wise – if the Potez was rectangular in cross section there was no point in…

  Dick Stein

  February 11, 2021

  1:72 scale, design, French aircraft, Masking, Model Airplane, Polish models, Scale Models, subassembly

  cementation, IKEA, Mister Craft, Potez, subassembly

• Potez 540 – Part Three – Three Days On The Road

  

  And I’m definitely not gonna make it home tonight. Not riding the Potez 540. The heading image is three days later. Not hectic days, mind, but steady use of my evening modelling time. I think we are making progress and I hope it is in a forward direction. The engine nacelles or housings for the…

  Dick Stein

  February 10, 2021

  1:72 scale, French aircraft, Model Airplane, Polish models, Scale Models, subassembly

  engines, masking windows, Polish kit, windows

• Federal 2 1/2 Ton – Part Two – If it’s ALL Green…

  

  Is there any need to paint it? Yes there is. Bare green plastic is just that… you can see a mile away when someone puts a model out for display that hasn’t been painted. That’s fine and dandy if it is a display of production models that lets the customers see what it looks like…

  Dick Stein

  February 4, 2021

  1:72 scale, Colour Schemes, Lacquer, Military models, model trucks, Painting, subassembly, Uncategorized, Workshop

  atmospheric conditions, olive drab, spray painting

• Martin Maryland – Part Two – FROG Spawn

  

  Well, I wasn’t wrong about the origin of the model – but I noted some interesting features on the sprue trees. Some were perfect and some were not. A Forrest Gump box of chocolates, indeed. The fuselage and wings are wonderful. The tail plane likewise. The design features a set of long tabs that lock…

  Dick Stein

  January 31, 2021

  1:72 scale, American aircraft, design, Model Airplane, Russian models, Scale Models, subassembly

  design, Eastern Express, Martin bomber, moulding

• Dassault Ouragan – Part Two – Taming The Pit

  

  I must complement Valom. They are not terminally annoying. The fuselage halves for the Dassault Ouragan fit with few gaps. The wings go together sweetly – very little fettling in the landing gear well. The nose intake splitter and tailpipe are paragons of precision. Then there is the cockpit… It is well-moulded and reasonably proportioned…

  Dick Stein

  January 24, 2021

  1:72 scale, Czech models, design, French aircraft, Model Airplane, Scale Models, subassembly, Uncategorized

  cockpit, Czech models, fuselage

• Dornier Do.17Z – Part Two – A FROG Of A Different Colour

  

  The experience of the FROG Dornier is interesting. The kit is an older mould and has raised panel lines but no rivets. I don’t mind as it will have a dark finish anyway. But it is an older kit. Thus the fit in some places is approximate. The fuselage is excellent, the wing box assembly commendably…

  Dick Stein

  January 18, 2021

  1:72 scale, Czech models, German aircraft, Model Airplane, Modelling materials, Scale Models, subassembly, Workshop

  Dornier, fillers, FROG, sanding

• Mitsubishi A6M – Part Two – I’m In Trouble With IPMS

  

  Apparently if you paint parts on the sprue trees you are a bad boy. This was the experience of Phil Flory a while ago when he was seen to be doing this – he was taken to task by some enthusiasts in IPMS for not taking the hobby seriously. Seriously. The instruction leaflets, modelling books,…

  Dick Stein

  January 13, 2021

  1:72 scale, Japanese aircraft, Masking, Model Airplane, Painting, Scale Models, subassembly

  IPMS, Mitsubishi Zero, Painting, sprue trees